Bottle closures



Feb. 25,- 1958 H. O- SONNEMAN BOTTLE CLOSURES Filed Aprii 29, 1955 INVENTOR. v HENRY 0. So/Y/VEMAN BY I United States Patent BOTTLE CLOSURES Henry 0. Sonneman, Silverton, Ohio Application April 29, 1955, Serial No. 504,770

2 Claims, (Cl. 215-55) This invention relates to closures for bottles containing effervescent liquids.

Bottles of champagne and the like, when closed with a cork, make a loud noise or pop when opened. However, if a bottle of champagne or other similar effervescent liquid is closed with a common crown cap, there is substantially no audible pop when the crown cap is removed.

If the expected pop is not forthcoming when a bottle of champagne is opened, the purchasers are dissatisfied because they are inclined to the belief that champagne that does not pop is of inferior quality or has lost its effervescence.

An object of the invention is to provide a pop producing closure that can be secured by a crown cap to so-called splits or small size champagne bottles, that will give the customer the expected pop, the closure and cap being relatively inexpensive and suitable for use in automatic capping machines.

Another object of this invention is to provide a cork for champagne bottles that will provide the pop expected when a bottle of champagne is opened.

A further object of the invention is to provide a closure for champagne bottles that can be secured with a crown cap, the closure providing the expected pop when the crown cap and the closure are removed.

A further object of this invention is to provide an insert for the neck of a champagne bottle which is of generally cup-shape form having walls which frictionally engage the interior of the neck of a bottle and which is held in place in the neck by a crown cap or the like, until the crown cap is removed, whereupon the cupshaped member is expelled from the bottle by internal pressure with an explosive sound or pop.

A further object of this invention is to provide a cupshaped member of this type which is provided with a handle or handles which are folded inside the cup-shaped member when the bottle is capped, the handle portions springing outwardly thereof when the cap is removed, so that, if pressure inside the bottle is insuflicient to expel the cup-shaped member, the handle may be grasped to help expel the cup-shaped member.

A further object of this invention is to provide a cupshaped member of this type having an outwardly extending flange which overlies the mouth of the bottle and is engaged by the cap and held against the mouth of the bottle to form a seal at the mouth.

The above and other objects and features of this invention will in part be apparent and will in part be obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention pertains, from the following detailed description, and the drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a view partly in side elevation and partly in section, showing the neck and mouth of a champagne bottle having a closure constructed in accordance with an embodiment of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a view in transverse section of the bottle after the cap has been removed but just before the cup shaped member of the closure has been fully expelled.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the closure member;

Fig. 4 is a view in transverse section of a bottle having a closure embodying a modified form of the invention; and

Fig. 5 is a view in side elevation of the bottle illustrated in Fig. 4, the cap thereof having been removed, and a cup-shaped closure member, the closure member being shown expelled part way out of the bottle.

In the following detailed description and the drawing, like reference characters indicate like parts.

In Fig. 1 is shown a bottle 10 which is closed by a closure which comprises a cup-shaped member 12 and a cap 13. The cap 13 may be a crown cap-or the like and may be provided with a cork seal or other resilient seal 14, having, if desired, a thin sealing disc 16 which engages the mouth of the bottle to form-a seal-when the cap is closed.

As shown in Fig. 3, the cup-shaped member 12 includes a hollow cylinder'18 which is open at its outer end and closed at its inner end 19. As shown in Fig. 1, the diameter of cylinder 18 is such that its outer walls will firmly and frictionally grip the inside of the neck of the bottle 10 when seated as in Fig. l. The upper end of the member 12 is, as shown in Fig. 2, provided with tabs or handles 21 and 22 formed integrally with the open end thereof. The handle or tab 22 includes an easily gripped portion 24 that extends outwardly therefrom.

When the crown cap 13 is applied to the bottle, the handle portions 21 and 22, including the finger grip 24, are deformed inwardly, as shown in Fig. 1, into the hollow of member 12. However, when the cap 13 is removed, the handle portions 21 and 22 spring upwardly to the accessible position shown in Fig. 2. If the internal bottle pressure is insufficient to expel the cup-shaped member, the handles 21 and 22 may be pulled upwardly to start the cup-shaped member out of the mouth of the bottle. As soon as the friction is thus reduced, the internal pressure expels member 12 so rapidly that the expected pop results.

When the cup-shaped member is expelled from the mouth of the bottle, it is expelled suddenly, like the cork of a champagne bottle, and there is emitted a loud or explosive sound or pop, similar to that which occurs when the cork of a conventional champagne bottle is expelled.

The cup-shaped member may be formed of appropriate plastic material having rubber-like properties such as polyethylene plastic, or the like, and having sufiicient resilience to cause the handles to quickly spring upwardly. It is also sufliciently resilient to firmly engage the inside of the neck of the bottle.

In Figs. 4 and 5 is shown a bottle 28 having a closure which comprises a cup-shaped member 29 and a cap 31. In Fig. 5, the cup-shaped member 29 is provided with an outwardly extending flange 33 which engages the mouth of the bottle to form with the crown cap a seal when the bottle is capped (see Fig. 4). In other details of construction, the cup-shaped member 29 is similar to the member already described above.

From the foregoing it will be observed that the closures 12 and 29 may be applied with automatic machines following which the crown caps may be applied with automatic cappers. The closure is therefore inexpensive and can be used economically on small size bottles. It will be understood, of course, that the invention is also suitable for use on champagne bottles of the usual or customary type.

The closures illustrated in the drawing and described supra are subject to structural modification without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secureby Letters Patent is:

l. A closure for a bottle containing an effervescent liquid, which comprises a cup-shaped member mounted inside the neck of the bottle, said member comprising an elongated hollow cylindrical member frictionall y engaging the inside wall of the neck and an elongated handle portion integrally formed with the mouth of the member, and a removable cap-covering and closing the mouth of the bottle, the handle projection being deformed into the interior of the member, the cup-shaped member being adapted to be expelled from the bottle by internal pressure with an explosive sound when the cap is removed, the handle portion springing into an operative position projecting outwardly of the member when the cap is removed to provide a finger pull to initiate release of the cup-shaped member.

2. A closure for a bottle containing an efiervescent liquid which comprises a cup-shaped member mounted inside the neck of the botle and frictionally held therein, said member comprising an elongated hollow cylinder having a closed inner end and an open outer end, an outwardly projecting flange member adapted to overlie the mouth of the bottle, and an elongated handle portion integrally formed with the mouth of the cylinder, and a removable cap covering and closing the mouth of the bottle, said cap engaging the flange to hold the flange tightly against the mouth of the bottle for sealing it, the handle portion being deformed into the interior of the member by the cap but springing outwardly when the cap is removed, the member being adapted to be expelled from the bottle by internal bottle pressure with an explosive sound when the cap is removed.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Smith Apr. 23, 1912 Alvear Nov. 3, 1953 Livas Nov. 13, 1956 

